The Republican journal., 1887-10-13

\ TRIP ON THE MOREIOS RAILROAD, AMECA-
MEGA. AND ITS SACRED MOUNTAIN. PECUL-
IARITIES OF LIFE IN THE SISTER REPCBLIC.
Correspondence of the journal.
CITY OF MEXICO, Sept. 1887. The Morclos
road--which, by the way, is the only purely
Mexican railway enterprise in the country.
| built and controlled by native capitalists-runs
from the Capital southeast about ninety miles,
1t is laid in the narrow-guage, and with its in
Vulnerable sharp curves and frail bridges,
seems to justify the native boast that it Is en-
tirely Mexican in character and construction,
and that its engineer was a Mexican who never
built railroad before.
Besides several towns of lesser consequence,
it takes in Cucrnavaca- capital and princi
pal city Of the State of MoreIos-and makes
Cuautla its present terminus The road is pro-
jccted to Acapulco, two hundred miles below,
on the southern coast-but its completion TO
that point will probably be thing of the dis
tant future. 1t was constructed, thus far.
under the auspices of Senor Dcllin Sanchez, a
son-in-law of President Juarez. and was rushed
forward with astonishing rapidity. (for MeXi-
COY. SO that certain valuable premiums might
be secured in addition to the government sub
silly. That there was much defective work
about it. WAS proven by one of the most appal
ling accidents in the history of railroad horrors,
which occurred on the line within a week after
It's formal opening to the public.
1t seems that the Cuautla garrison had been
| ordered to Mexico city, and rs there was not
yet passenger coaches enough for the purpose.
the soldiers were crowded upon FLAT ears,
while other flat ears of the same train were
frcighted with
BARRELS OF AGUAEDIENTE,
the native rum. As usual in Mexico. where
everything is put oft as long possible. start
was not made till late in the afternoon; and
then some delays occurred upon the track.
Before n@ht-fa. the rain came down in tor
rents. and The soldiers being wholly unpro-
trrtcd n; The open ears. broke open some of
the rinn-barr1ls and proceeded to drink their
ILL., The engineer. finding the road extremely
unsafe, fatty refused to 90 any farther: but
WAS finally compelled to do so at the point of il
l'ayonct. hI an cNa>perated officer who did not
know what TO do with his drunken and now
unmana@cablc men. In this fashion they came
To the >tupcndouS barranca of MalpaiS. the
frail bridge over which had been washed out
hv the raln>-and the train went crashing
! down nio the depths.
The soldiers who Were not killed outright or
man"led hcvond the power of doing mischief.
became completely craZcd between terror. cX-
citclnent and aguar,licnte. and stabbed and
shot one another like many demons. The
barrels Of rum took fire; the cartrdgc-belts
| exploded: and the fury of a tropical storm. in
Il night black Ercb,ls. beat down upon the
WrithIng mass of horror.
1t WAS Al such price that the extra >ubven-
tion was earned for the speedy completion of
this read. y Whiic-wa>hed report was after
wards made. and the affair was hushcd up and
| kept from the public in manner which would
| not he possible in the United States. but is
| perfectly feasible here. where the Government
control, the tc'cgraph> and newspapers.
~ there Is no loss without some gain, the
| disaster proved a useful Il Sson TO the lAmcri-
| can engineers in Mexico especially /" those
W ho came here first durn" the dry months
when the ray ines and HrroyoS are empty. One
must live here through rainy season to realize
| and understand the pcrils of Il road. when
| sometimes harranra> which We're dry rs dust
| before the floods began. in an hours time be-
come raging torrents which sweep all before
them.
| Had the accident above referred to occurred
| a week earlier, the Mexican government would
| have needed rcconStructne,
FROM THE BOTTOM Up.
1t happened on the 24th of June. 1881 and on
| the 18th inst. Il grand celebration and banquet
had been given at Cuauta-Morclos TO celebrate
| the opening OF the road. Manuel Gonzalez,
| then President of Mexico, was thc,1, and
Porfcro Diaz. the present executive. Pacheco,
| Romero. RubiO. and other Cabinet Ministers of
| past and present administrations: besides JUS
| ticcs of the Supreme Court. senators, Gcncr-
| ais. ItefatenTS,-in short the political ''ilow-
| err Of modern mexico.
| Despite its dangers. every tourist should
| make trip over this Morelos railway You
may take a horse at the Zocolo plaza at I
| O'Clock i'll the morning, and twenty minutes
ride will bring you to the depot, at the San
| Lazaro gate of the Capital, near where the
main sewer of the old city flows with sluggish
| current toward Lake TeZcoco. From the odOrs
| Of the grccn-scummed sewer. and the congrc-
| CATION of filthy and importunate beggars that
assemblies ut the arrival and departure of trains,
you readily comprehend why this suburb was
| named after Lazarus, the king of mendicantS.
The railroad runs for a long distance parallel
with the old Spanish highway leading to Puebla
and Acapulco, over which travel has rolled for
centuries, and whichever in this age of steam,
| is crowded with the donkey trains of freight
erS. The first town Of consequence is
| AMECAMECA DE JUAREZ,
which is forty-ive miles distant from Mexico
city, and the fare thereto is only one dollar.
| BY eight O'Clock you may be seated in COM
Portable car, whirling rapidly over the salt
| plains that once formed the bed of the great
| lake whcrcon Cortcz and his crew sailed in
| their briyantines.
There is much of interest by the waySide.
| All the salt marshes skrtiny the foot hills are
covered with wild duck and other Waterfowl
Cultivated fields of gigantic century" plants,
and nopalS. (''prickly pears'') alternate with
Indian puehlas; miles of ''organ" cactus, plant
ed for hedges, rearing their round. slender
spires from ten to forty feet in height around
| primitive huts of zdcdte sticks, precisely like
those the early Aztecs built on their floating
| gardens above the waters of TenOchttlan.
| Whatever you do in Mexico. don't fail to
visit Amera-meca, for it is one of the lovc!iest
and quaintest places in all this quaint and
| lovely country. 1t has a population of about
ten thousand, but much Of its pristine beauty
| was destroyed by the great fire of two years
| ago, which the Indians purposely kindled. In
| furatcd by the cdict Of the Government which
forbade their time-honored celebration of
| Iioly-weck, including the public Passion PLAY
| and street para,les, they rcvcnged themselves
| by setting fire to the town and burning many
| of their own habtationS
In the center of the old city. which is nestled
close to the foot of Popocatipctl, is Il plaza
whose low. circular walls of stone enclose 8
small garden planted with flowers. In the
middle of this is a round pink-tintcd basin
| filled with water flowing from central foun.
tain. cluster of white stone pillars support
capital and form the entrance, and few an
tiquated willow trees droop their dark greer
| branches over all.
The square surrounding this bit of vcrlul,
is very large and ankle deep in dust, bounde,
| on the side next to the railroad by the cas-;
municipal. and on the east by the great cathe
dral. From this center-piece radiate all thu
streets of the town. lined with low houses o
stone or adobe, mostly rooted with rougl
shingles spiked on with long wooden pegs
The streets are uncommony clean, and cacl
lme-washcd cottage is neatly tinted pale blue
pink gray, or yellow. Streams, brought dowi
from the nearby mountains, murmur in ittl'
rivulcts through all the streets, and are divert
ed hv small cutters to all the houses for privat,
| use.
The marked plaza, with its walls of pink
| tinted adobe presents
| 4 SCENE FOR AN OPERA,
Il long arcade, always crowded with bare-hoad
| ed. bare-f0otcd women and men in briyht-hue
SerapcS, with sandals OH their feet. Benin,
this plaza is Il group of churches and cour
yards: and just beyond the vast snow noun
tain looms like sheetcd ghost.
The cathedral of Ameca-mcca was built sOoi
after the conquest, and is indeed a curiosity
1t is of magnificent proportions, windowless o
course, its grotesque interior dimly lighted b.,
the candles which have burned perpctualy OF
its affairs through two hundred and seventy
years. 1t abOunds in ancient pictures, curiou
affairs and bas reliets carved by long forgotten
artists. and huge wooden crosses, with Col
gothas of real skulls and cross-boncs pile,
around them. Indeed, the only thing abou
the premises which smacks at all of moderl
days is the rapidly growing graveyard in th'
rear.
There are three tolcrable inns in the town.
b., 1I.,taI rc;1 IL,